I'm not sure I understand the concept of Valentine's Day as much as I used to.

In elementary school I remember thinking it was about buying boxes of trading card-sized valentines and handing them out to everybody in your class, including guys. Middle school was about sending a girl you liked a heartgram or whatever ridiculous name the school had thought for a valentine. In high school, it meant getting serious with your girlfriend, or at least you thought it did at the time.

Now, I'm not so sure. About a month ago, I made reservations at the most expensive restaurant within bar-walking distance, a move I thought would score me big points with the boss, errr, girlfriend. At about this time I began contemplating what the holiday really means nowadays.

Whereas in the past I considered Valentine's Day to be a day dealing primarily with love and friendship, now I was just thinking about scoring an expensive meal. Don't get me wrong, there was a definite motivation behind my actions; I just wasn't sure it was the right one. After all, if the day really is about appreciating another human being, shouldn't I have to do a little bit more work than flipping open my cell phone and dialing a restaurant's number? This is when I started pondering more improved ways I could go about showing my affection. After thinking about it for awhile, I realized the main problem keeping me from true candy-hearted happiness were my immediate surroundings.

College has much to offer -- the words Monkey Boy and Nickel Night comes to mind -- but not all of it can be good for the soul. Before coming to Penn State I didn't think it was feasible for me to change so much I'd forget things I'd learned in the previous 18 years, but now I know it's possible. There I was, trying to figure out how to improve Valentine's Day, while bypassing the simplest solutions because they weren't accessible anymore.

It's not as if I could just go out and buy a box of valentines and stick them in my sweetheart's shoebox. And to my knowledge, no one on campus has started a heartgram service, which is a downright shame. As you can tell, I soon ran out of options.

Then, it hit me. The ideal solution to bring back the meaning behind Valentine's Day may not have been in my immediate vicinity, but the more I thought about it, the closer it got. I realized the perfect Valentine's Day wasn't in a box of cards, an expensive dinner, or even a heartgram, but right there in my heart. College may make you forget about that vital instrument, but it won't make you lose it.